3 Reasons to Use Google+ for Your Writing Biz

Communication. Creativity. Collaboration.

Those are the three words that I use to describe Google+. I have used just about every one of the big social media platforms and I have not felt the connectivity that I have felt on Google+ in any of them. Not one. The dynamic on Google+ is much different than other platforms, the conversations are more thoughtful, you can meet new people throughout the world and it encourages real interaction. Let’s take a look at the three reasons I recommend that you join Google+.

Google+ wants you to make new friends.

That is the first thing that drew me to the platform. The very nature of its design encourages that you get to know other people all over the world. Some of those relationships developed into collaborative projects or they became my clients, but best of all they became friends. Google+ not only offers me the opportunity to exchange ideas through posts and comments I text chat and video chat with them, which leads to a deeper more trusting relationship. In the Google+ environment I organically develop relationships with people who share the same interests, learn from others and open my mind up to new ways of thinking that I probably would not have been exposed to on the other social media platforms. Not only can build a readership on Google+ but you can converse with them on a level that is not possible on most other platforms.

Google+ was developed to inspires creativity.

The way that it is designed to encourage longer posts is a great example. By allowing longer posts it encourages thoughtful interaction between the author and the reader. By not limiting the length of the comments real discussion takes place and the results are remarkable. Google+ encourages the use of photos and they provide editing tools that get great results. If you are new to Google+ you may not be aware of my favorite Google+ tool, Hangouts. Hangouts can be used to create live broadcasts or to communicate privately with others. The sky’s the limit with Hangouts. I broadcast The Writing Biz using the Hangout tool which integrates with YouTube, I use it to chat with clients and friends and can even read my grandson a bedtime story. As a writer, there are many ways you can use Google+ creatively, you can hold book readings, you can put together a poll to choose a book cover, you can start a community for your genre or subject matter and on and on.

Google+ wants to bring people together so they can make great things.

What Google+ offers as a place to collaborate, dramatically changed the way that I do business and opened up doors in my professional and personal life. I have taken part in online writing groups, classroom sessions, and worked with others on client projects. I will use the collaboration tools that are offered by Google in the book that I am working on. Imagine bringing together from anywhere in the world your publisher, your editor and your cover designer to go over your book project online though Hangouts. This is a much more productive way of doing business than dozens of back and forth emails and phone calls. The more time you save managing your writing business the more time you have to write! You can hold writing groups, critique sessions, learning programs and work on co-authoring projects.

There is one more reason why you need to bring Google+ into your life…

Friendship. Google+ gave me the opportunity to make real and lasting friendships with amazing people. These friends I have learned from, leaned on and laughed with, as we all tried to muddle our way through this crazy life. In hindsight, this reason should have been placed at the top of this post, it is the most important reason that I log in to Google+ everyday.